Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing systems, information processing apparatuses, methods of controlling the same, and storage media.
Description of the Related Art
A technique is known in which an information processing apparatus such as a PC displays, using a web browser installed in the information processing apparatus, an operating screen of a web application provided from a web server to which the information processing apparatus is connected over a network, and a user makes operations through the operating screen. To use the web application, the user obtains a license for using the web application from a provider of the web application. The operating screen of the web application is then displayed by the web browser of the user's information processing apparatus. As such, a system for the provider of the web application to verify whether or not the connection is being made from a user who has properly purchased a license is necessary. To realize such a system, for example, the operating screen of the web application requests the input of a username and a password, and the user is determined to have properly purchased a license in the case where the username and the password input through that screen match registered information.
Meanwhile, there are also web applications aimed at information processing apparatuses shared by many people, such as multifunction peripherals (MFPs) that have scanning functions, printing functions, and so on. In the case where many people share a single information processing apparatus, web application licenses are sometimes issued for the client terminal as a whole rather than for individual users.
Such license management is not only carried out for respective individual web applications; there are also systems in which license sales and management are collectively carried out by a representative for web applications developed by different web application developers. In this case, based on information from a web browser in a client, a server having a web application makes an inquiry to a license management server that manages licenses and verifies whether or not a license for the web application has been properly purchased by the client.
There is also a system that uses a license file in the installation of an application installed in an information processing apparatus. Such a license file is issued in the case where a license has been purchased for the application, and whether or not a license has been properly purchased for the application is verified by verifying the license file.
Meanwhile, web browsers in information processing apparatuses such as MFPs are often used primarily in order to use web applications. In such a case, for security reasons, a function for restricting the input of URLs, the saving of bookmarks, and so on is provided in order to restrict users from freely accessing web sites. There are also functions for restricting access based on user privileges (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-76621, for example).
Regarding a web application, it is not necessary to install the web application, and thus the license for the web application cannot be managed using a license file. However, a method that verifies a license can be employed for an application installed in an information processing apparatus when the application is installed. Different license management systems are thus necessary depending on the form of the application, and thus different management costs arise for the providers of the applications, the parties that manage the licenses, and so on. Meanwhile, from the user perspective, licenses are authenticated using different procedures depending on the install form of the application, which is cumbersome.
In the case where user information is not to be used when using a web application, user authentication is carried out for the purpose of license management. In such a case, carrying out user authentication in the web application in order to authenticate a license is cumbersome for users.